This is one of those songs I could write a full book about....both about the song and how it came to be, and about what it means to me personally.  This is truly one of the greatest songs ever written, and it will be around long after we're all gone.  Songs like this make me want to write songs, and I'm truly grateful to live in a time when this tune exists.

Let's start, as always with some stats.  It was the last single released by the Beatles before Paul announced publicly that he was leaving the group.  Interestingly enough, it was actually John who called it quits first at a business meeting prior to the album of the same name's release, but they kept it quiet until Paul announced his departure to the press.  At the time of its release, it was the highest debut chart position of any single in the history of Billboard, entering the Hot 100 at #6, and eventually reaching #1.

The album "Let It Be" was the last studio album released by the group, but not the last one recorded.  They actually recorded "Abbey Road" after doing the tracks for "Let It Be", but then released it first.  "Let It Be" was finally released in May of 1970 after a tumultuous period of acrimony among the group over business dealings and creative differences, and a mix/master largely done without their input (because they couldn't work together constructively at that point) by Phil Spector.  But the original tracks were done in the first couple of months of 1969, and the project wasn't called "Let It Be" at that time....it was called "Get Back".  The group was planning to return to their roots of a more stripped down sound....just guitars, bass, drums, and a little piano on occasion to support the vocals.  They were going to write all the songs, rehearse them, and then perform them live on television, and that performance of all these new songs would be recorded and released as the "Get Back" album.

Needless to say, that didn't all happen....but they did write a album's worth of material and record it.  The problem was, as the decisions about how to present this new material to the public got changed and stalled, at one point they just walked away from the project because they couldn't come to an agreement about what to do.  Among the songs they recorded was this beautiful pop/gospel anthem called "Let It Be"....and by the time Phil Spector had finished his mix and master, the name of the album was changed to "Let It Be" as well.

The origin story of the song is truly beautiful.  Paul McCartney lost his mother, Mary, to cancer at the age of just 14.  Toward the end of the sessions for the "White Album" in 1968, Paul was feeling a great deal of stress because the band was just not getting along at all.  They had big creative differences, they all had grown up a bit and had full lives outside of this "Beatles" thing that had become their individual priorities, and they were arguing incessantly about the right people to bring in to manage the group's finances and scattered business affairs.  Paul feared that perhaps the group was falling apart, and he wanted them to continue working together.  He had a dream where he was visited by his dearly departed mother, and she said to him, "It will all be alright...just let it be". 

Paul has stated on many occasions that he is very grateful to have had that dream and the opportunity to be with his mum again, and that he found great comfort in her advice.  So, while many people have inferred a religious meaning with the phrase "Mother Mary", it is actually a reference to his own "mother, Mary McCartney".  However, like the great songwriter and star that he is, Paul has always said he wants every listener to interpret it in whatever way is most meaningful and comforting to them.

I've been performing this song since 1991.  The Disney Channel played Paul's concert special, "Get Back", a compilation of performances from a massive world tour in 1989 - 1990, on and off for a couple years.  It was a very special series of concerts for two reasons.  First, Paul hadn't done any substantial touring in a decade, having been traumatized greatly by the murder of John Lennon in 1980, and worrying that perhaps he would be next.  Secondly, while he had played a handful of Beatles songs in his shows with Wings through the 70s, it was never a primary feature of the concerts.....3 or 4 tunes at most.  He very much wanted the focus to be on the music he was making currently at the time, and more or less avoided his legacy with the Beatles.  But for the "Get Back" tour in 1989 - 1990, he knew it was time to fully embrace that history, and he leaned in hard.  The concerts were around 3 hours in length, and the set lists included 16 Beatles songs....and many of the songs included were tunes that the Beatles never played live due to their retirement from touring in 1966 and the limitations of technology at the time.  So for the first time EVER, audiences were treated to performances of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", "Hey Jude", "The Long & Winding Road", "The Fool On the Hill", "Eleanor Rigby", "Good Day, Sunshine", and "Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End" to name a few....and of course, "Let It Be".

I fell completely in love with the Beatles after watching that concert video several dozen times, and Paul became my defacto favorite member of the group.  This song has been a live favorite for me in every setting I've ever played in....whether on a stage in a theater doing a showcase concert, in a bar in front of a bunch of tipsy rednecks, or any number of private events from barn dances to black tie fundraisers....EVERYONE loves "Let It Be", and it means something different to every person.  For me, this song is a chance to open my heart up and just pour emotion into the microphone with no inhibition....the song is so open for interpretation that the only responsibility I have as a performer is to keep the throughline of the emotion in tact for the listener and let them fill in the specifics for themselves.  I LOVE to play it.

It's also basically a 4 chord song, so it's wide open for improv on the piano....and it takes bluesy and gospel licks just as well as it accepts cheesy pop stuff....it's just a gem of a song.  And it's good advice....when something is bothering you that is just too big and complicated for you to really do much about, just let it be.  At some point it will give you an opening to make a constructive change, but until then...take yourself off the hook and let it be.  Thank you "Mother Mary".....I'll take that with me everywhere I go.  

Enjoy my cover of this song from January 19, 2020, and then check out my favorite live clip of Paul singing it in 1989 during his "Get Back" tour supporting the "Flowers In the Dirt" album, and the first tour where he really embraced his Beatles legacy fully. 

If you'd like to explore my piano method more deeply, my best students use my video courses and join me for conversation and twice monthly Q&A Livestreams in my private community...you can find it all HERE. Thanks.

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